For Nikki, Geno and Marina Marasco this was a week of telling their story and visiting with members of Congress. The Seminole family is representing All Children's Hospital in Washington, DC for Family Advocacy Day. Six-year-old Marina joined 36 child patients and their families from around the country to speak with their members of Congress. The Marasco family shared their personal experiences in caring for a child with omphalocele and highlighted the importance of protecting Medicaid.

Marina was born with her internal organs protruding on the outside of her abdomen and protected only by a fragile membrane - an extreme case of a rare condition called giant omphalocele. Now a lively and beautiful child, Marina at one time lay perilously close to death in All Children's Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Read her story in the December 2012 issue of Tender Loving Care.

The message families are sharing with Congress is that children like Marina depend on specialized pediatric care to manage their conditions. Nationally, 32 million children rely on Medicaid to access care. Currently, Medicaid is vulnerable to budget cuts at federal and state levels and not structured to coordinate care for the 2 million children with complex medical needs who rely on it for care.

CHA represents more than 220 children's hospitals and is the voice of children's hospitals nationally.

Human Resources is a program under All Children's Hospital. All Children's Hospital
is the only specialty licensed children's hospital on Florida's west coast. Founded in
1926, All Children's has grown into a leading pediatric referral center that is
dedicated to advancing treatment, education, research and advocacy in child health.